


I'll do all I can to heal you inside

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: Marvel (Movies), Thor (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Brothers, Dysfunctional Family, Families of Choice, Implied Relationships, Male Friendship, Other, Unconventional Families, relationship between brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-18
Updated: 2012-01-18
Packaged: 2017-10-29 18:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/322628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki's left his dysfunctional family life behind, or so he thinks. Then his little brother Thor shows up on his doorstep, badly injured and Loki ends up taking responsibility for his little brother to raise him properly and hopefully give him a better future than he otherwise would have had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll do all I can to heal you inside

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the Glasvegas song "Geraldine" and the idea of Loki being the one that got out from a shit home situation and is now the one saving his little brother, rather than just taking care of just himself. It was originally supposed to be Loki being a social worker taking care of a homeless Thor, but they have such a strong brotherly relationship inside and outside mythology, so it turned into Loki being the responsible brother and taking care of his little brother.

_"I will, I will turn your tide_

 _Do all I can to heal you inside"-Glasvegas_

 

One

 

Loki was having a good sleep after working so hard all the past week. He'd gotten a new class to teach out of the blue and had been frantically working to resolve everything  that had been thrown at him before he went on term holidays and had only been too happy to go home and relax. He had been lost in dreamland when the doorbell rang.

 

He would have ignored it in favour of a much deserved lie in if it hadn't been for the frantic buzzing of the dratted thing. No sooner had one ring finished that whoever it was outside pressed on the buzzer again making it a never ending cacophony that vaguely reminded him of the annoying vuvuzelas that had been the rage at the World Cup two summers ago.

 

Frustrated, he got up and padded to the front door of his one room flat. It's small, but it's his and for once, he can finally feel at home and safe.

 

He unchained the door and swung it open, ready to give whoever was stupid enough to disturb his sleep the tongue lashing of their life.

 

The words died in his throat when he saw it was his younger brother Thor shuffling his feet and looking down so that his dirty, tangled blond hair covered his face. Thor's left arm was hanging at an odd angle and he was holding it tightly against his body so that it didn't move unnecessarily.  There was a small bag at his feet and Loki sighed heavily. He didn't need his training to know why his little brother was at his door on a Saturday morning.

 

"Get inside. I'll be ready in five and then I'll drive you to the hospital."

 

He knew he sounded harsh, but if he loosened the tight rein on his emotions, he would simply lose it and be useless. One thing he had learned was the less affected he was, the better it would go for everyone. 

 

Besides, he knew his brother. If he broke down and showed pity, Thor would simply close up and become mulish about the situation. 

 

Sure enough, Thor nodded and entered the house. Loki grabbed the pitiful bag and closed the door.

 

Two

 

The trip to the Emergency went the same way as it always had gone in these situations. Loki filled out the paperwork and talked to the cops that got called because that's how it went in cases with abused minors.  Thor got taken to the back and patched up and Loki went to the food court and the small gift store at the front of the hospital and bought him some breakfast and a some candy. 

 

Even though Thor is well on his way to looking like a man, he's still a boy and even though Loki hadn't lived at home in years, he still remembered his little brother's weakness for candy and unexpected treats.

 

When he got back to the emergency room where they have put his little brother, Loki was dismayed to see that the hospital has called a social worker and she was standing with the police officers outside of Thor's room. Although he knew that it was just procedure, it brings home the fact that he couldn't run out on his brother any longer. 

 

He took a deep breath and pushed down his nervousness and guilt. He could do this. It wasn't going to be hard for him to explain everything and hopefully keep his brother out of the foster care system.

 

(He was sure he had a pretty good chance of that happening, since he knew from past experience that if there's a relative that's stable enough, they would place a child with them rather than place them in a system that was overburdened and short-staffed.)

 

After several terse conversations between himself, the police and the social worker, the matter got conditionally resolved and as soon as it was medically advisable, he took a still doped up Thor home and settled him into his bed. 

 

Normally, he would resent having to give up his bed and his entire first day of holidays, but this was his brother that needed to be taken care of and he allows himself a bit of sentimentality in that regard. He didn't leave Thor to sleep right away, after getting him tucked into bed and putting the medications that he had picked up at the hospital pharmacy on the nightstand. He stayed and studied his brother's face and recalls a faded memory of childhood, before everything went to hell when he used to watch his baby brother sleep.

 

It wasn't the same. Thor's face was bruised and swollen badly. His right eye was swollen shut and there were stitches holding his eyebrow shut. His lower lip was split and it looked painful to the touch. The bruises didn't end there. Loki had seen his brother's chest after the nurses cut off his clothes and he wished he could forget all the burn marks and scars he saw scattered all over his brother's body. 

 

His arm, at least, would heal properly, now that it had been seen to. It would just be an unpleasant reminder of a life that he shouldn't have been living. 

 

Loki watched him sleep a little longer before he gathered up the extra bedding to make a bed for himself on his couch. 

 

There were logistics to be dealt with tomorrow and right then and there, he needed to get to sleep if he was going to do it properly.

 

Three

 

He'd forgotten what it is to share his space with someone and he had to admit that it was hard to adjust to the change.

 

Every time he turned around, Thor was right there, looking at him with haunted eyes and shuffling about awkwardly. The beating was a bad one and it was taking a while for him to get back to his usual cheerful and hyperactive self.  He was also quiet, which was unusual for him and no matter how much Loki prodded him, he either got short answers or none at all.

 

It was unnerving, if he was honest. He had spent most of his teenage years telling Thor to shut up and quit being annoying, and now, he found himself actually praying for his brother to get back to his usual self. 

 

Thor was independent and cheerful and now he was sullen, timid and basically his shadow and Loki knew that it would get worse after they had their day in court and the summer would wear on.

 

After the paperwork was filed and he was approved as his brother's legal guardian, he had needed to get a bigger place for the both of them.

 

(That had been shockingly easy, since their father had basically signed the papers and left the court without so much as a by your leave to both of his sons. He had kept up a good façade, but Thor hadn't been so sanguine about the whole situation and had needed Loki to reassure him that it was going to be okay until he had fallen into an uneasy and exhausted sleep)

 

There was no way that he was camping out in his own living room for the rest of his holidays. Nor was he in the mood to share a bed with his younger brother. Not that it would have been a possibility, since Thor was a couple of inches taller than him and built like a brick shit-house even though he was just fifteen years old.

 

Luckily it hadn't been a hard thing to find a two bedroom place in a similar price bracket in a not crap neighbourhood. He called in a few favours and they had moved in pretty damned fast. 

 

(Which was fantastic, because three weeks of not having any privacy was starting to get to him)

 

Thor had gotten a new bed, desk and dresser and Loki had spent the entire afternoon putting it together under the watchful and occasionally sarcastic commentary of his brother, which was annoying, but welcome, since Loki was worried that Thor wouldn't bounce back from the whole situation. Him being a snippy little shit was actually amusing to Loki, despite the frustration that came with putting together Ikea furniture usually brought him.

 

Once he had finished, he had gone to shower and get ready for a much deserved night out. He didn't have any plans, but he was sure that he could call someone up and get going to a pub or a club or something. As much as he liked his little brother, he did need to get out and spend sometime by himself and absorb the enormity of being responsible for a fifteen year old when he wasn't even thirty-five yet.

 

He had just grabbed his phone and was in the middle of texting Fandral when he walked into the living room to find Thor looking through his dvd collection, picking out the titles that he knew were among Loki's favourites. He heard the microwave beeping and the smell of popcorn wafted through the entire apartment.

 

Saturday. Movie night. 

 

He had nearly forgotten about that. Of course Thor wouldn't think that it was off, since he hadn't given any indication about leaving the ritual that had started since he brought Thor home from the hospital.

 

He moved fast and went back to his room. He shut off his phone and changed into a t-shirt and loose jeans before he returned back to the living room.

 

"You got Labyrinth there?"

 

Thor looked at his brother and smiled.

 

He could always go out later.

 

Four

 

"Why do I have to switch schools?" Thor whined as he followed his brother down the hallways of St. Francis Xavier Secondary so that Thor would get to his homeroom in time. They had already met the principal and Loki was pleased by what he saw and heard. It was going to be a bit far for Thor to get to from their place, but it would be worth it in the long run. 

 

"One, your past school was terrible. Two, your grades need to get better if you're going to go to college. And three, you need to get out and make friends. As much as I love your company, you really need to meet people that are your age. And no, the gang you hung out with doesn't count. Nice try, though."

 

Loki interrupted him, making Thor shut his mouth and glare at his older brother in sulky silence while tugging at the tie and blazer that was part of his school uniform along with a crisp white shirt and grey slacks and plain black shoes.

 

"They have a few good teams here." He tried, wincing when he realized he sounded like an anxious parent. Thor shrugged, but he did lose the petulant expression. There was nothing Thor liked more than playing any kind of sports and Loki hoped that was going to be the saving grace at keeping him at such a top ranked school. He was determined to give his brother all the tools that he needed in order to make a good life for himself. Loki himself had done fairly well so far, but he had the determination from the beginning that he wasn't going to be like their father. 

 

Thor needed the extra push and Loki was damned if he was going to let his brother coast through life and then end up bitter and taking it out on everyone in his life until he drove them all away from himself. If he could set Thor on the right path now, he would put all the resources possible in order to make it so. 

 

"Any words of advice?" Thor asked, snapping Loki out of his musings as they stopped in front of a wooden door with the numbers "158" painted in its glossy surface above a window with safety glass in it.

 

"Study hard and try to win any fights you get into this week."

 

Five

 

Loki was drinking his coffee and trying to wake up as he flipped through the mail he left on the table on Friday before going out with Sigyn, a substitute teacher that started working at his school at the beginning of the term. He should have felt guilty about staying over at her place, but Thor was out of the city on a Provincial tournament with the rugby team competing for the title, so he didn't have to worry about being irresponsible with his little brother and being out all weekend and not coming home till late Sunday afternoon.

 

Although he wasn't inclined to show much interest in sports  (academics had been more his speed, although he did play briefly on the badminton and curling teams when in school) he was proud of his brother making that much progress after getting into St. FX just a few months ago. 

 

It had taken a bit for Thor to get used to the regulations and the rigours of being in a private school, but in a month, he was already on his way to being a fixture of the school. Loki had already been treated to coming home and finding his entire living room covered in the usual teenage debris and four over-excited teenage boys abusing his couch while they were in a middle of a gaming tournament. 

 

That had been his introduction to Steve, Tony and Clint, all teammates on the rugby team that had become his best friends and had claimed their apartment as their headquarters for playing video games, studying or simply hanging out and eating their food, Loki had noticed ruefully. But he couldn't complain. After hoping that Thor would build a life away from what they had been used to, he couldn't very well turn churlish and petty and kick them out.

 

Especially not when he noticed how much those three needed the space to just be. He didn't prod, but Thor had always loved to talk and in time, he could see that Steve craved the stability while Tony and Clint needed the closeness that Thor and Loki had despite the fact that it was just the two of them in a small apartment with enough to live comfortably. He also got an earful of all their antics and occasionally had to remind Thor he had homework to finish and to get to it.

 

So Loki had gotten used to having teenagers underfoot and doing his planning and correcting at his work or by locking himself up in his room. Besides, he did relish having targets for snarking if he was honest, so it balanced out. They ate their food and invaded his space, but in return they were like younger brothers that tended to ease the nightmares and occasional flashbacks both he and Thor occasionally got hit with. 

 

At those times, or when he had to discipline his brother, he had to ask himself what the hell he was doing. He tried to treat Thor as fairly as any of his students, but he always worried that he would go too far and become like his father. Despite both of them going for counselling and getting feedback on how they were coping, Loki felt like he could unknowingly warp his brother and fuck him up even more than before.  It was a groundless fear, he could see, since Thor mostly got into harmless pranks and taking away his free time usually did wonders for moderating his behaviour.

 

But it was still there and that was something he probably wasn't going to get rid of until Thor was a grown man with his own life. And even then, Loki suspected that he would still be hovering over his brother.

 

He snorted at the thought and took another sip of his coffee, savouring the dark taste that he usually cut with loads of cream and sugar. So much so that Thor usually teased him about having some coffee with his cream and sugar. He snorted at the remembrance and swallowed it down just in time, since his phone rang.

 

At first, all he could hear was howling and hollering and he was ready hang up before he got deafened by the din, but he finally heard his brother's voice screaming his name. It seemed to get quiet after a minute and Thor finally greeted him properly.

 

"Hey Thor. Please tell me you didn't get arrested by the cops already."

 

Loki smiled when he heard Thor's outraged exclamation at the other end.

 

"I already told you it was Tony and Clint and I had nothing to do with that!" Thor explained, making Loki grin to himself. He was worried he was losing his touch, but he still was a troll and that made his morning just a bit more brighter.

 

"Yeah, sure. Anyways, are you missing me that badly already? What's going on?"

 

"We won! We won the Provincials! It was awesome! It was just so-"

 

The call disconnected and Loki tried to call again, only to get an out of service message.

 

He shook his head and put his phone down and picked up his coffee. Thor would call once he got a signal back. That was, if he remembered, since he was in the midst of celebrating the big triumph of their season.

 

Loki was halfway through his cup when his phone beeped.

 

"Phone died. We won! I'll see you Monday! Here's a picture of my medal. Love you bro!"

 

It was an out of focus picture of Thor, Clint, Steve and Tony all crammed into the frame, they faces bright as they held up their gold medals. 

 

It was a good thing he was alone, because he would have denied the few tears that slipped out along with the choked laugh. 

  


  


It was going to be fine.

  


  


End.


End file.
